Forgotten Melodies
by Fromfallenstars
Summary: One day, young Lucia made a desicion that would change her life forever.  Rated T for darkness and redness and whiteness. Lucia X Kaito X Gaito :3 :3
1. A tricked pearl

A pair of cerulean eyes broke the surface of the waves for the first time in their lifetime. Lucia, owner of the pink pearl, and, although unaware of it, Princess of the North Pacific Ocean, looked in awe as flowers blossomed in the sky.

"wahh.. so pretty!" the seven year old murmured, and began to sing her favorite melody.

Nanairo no kaze ni fukarete tooi misaki wo mezashiteta

Yoake mae kikoeta MERODI

Sore wa totemo natsukashii uta

"Hello?" a voice broke Lucia's concentration, and she looked around for the source. "Who's there?"

Her eyes fell upon a young, male human boy with brown hair and reddish-brown eyes. He looked around, before finding Lucia in the water. "What are you doing in the water?" not sure how to respond, Lucia lifted up her tail. "A mermaid?!" the boy asked in amazment.

Right as he finished, a huge, ginormous wave crashes into the opposite side of the cruis ship, nocking the boy over the edge of the boat and into the water below. Lucia dove to where the boy fell, grabbing him and swimming to the closes patch of land she could find.

Carefully, Lucia layed the boy on the ground. She grabbed his shoulders, shaking gently. "Hey..." she muttered, "hey, come on. Wake up..." she put her hands over his chest, pushing down several times.

"Come on, wake up..." pump, pump, pump...

"Come on, please wake up... please.. wake up.." Lucia's eyes began to sting.

"Please..."

No matter what Lucia did, the boy wouldn't wake up. 'what will save him?' Lucia looked down at the shell pendant hanging from her neck, which was emitting a soft pink glow. "My pearl?" she asked herself. She opened the locket, reaching for the pearl when...

"That's futile, you know." a voice called from behind her. Surprised, she dropped the pearl, scrambling for the pink sphere in the sand. Once placed safely back in her locket, she turned around to face the source of the spoken voice.

A boy about her age stood there, black jeans and shirtless save for a loosely word black coat. His spiky hair was ash grey, his eyes a mix of lavender and crimson. "You know, I can save the boy for you," the corner of his mouth raised in a smirk. "I'll wake the boy up, and in exchange, you give me your pearl and come with me."

Lucia's eyes lit up with hope. He would save the boy? All she had to do was follow him? But what would become of the boy?

As if reading her thoughts, his eyes shifted from Lucia's over to the boy laying unconscious behind her. "He can come too, if you so wish." The boy removed his right hand from his pocket, holding it out to her.

Lucia nodded in understanding. "I accept." she took the boy's hand, shaking it, confirming their deal. There was no turning back now.

"Very well," the dark-clothed boy walked over to Lucia's unconscious first love, kneeling, and picked him up bridal style. "It will take more than a wish to wake him up. I have machines at home that can wake him up, but i can't guarentee when." The gray haired boy walked toward the ocean, turning around to look at Lucia, appearing slightly annoyed "Are you comming?" he smirked.

Lucia's face flushed, and she crawled along the sand, making the water meet her halfway and carrying her the remander of the way to the ocean.

As the two swam down, down, to the depths of the ocean floor, Lucia looked to the mysterious boy. "By the way," she inquired "I never got your name, yet you seem to know mine. Might I ask who you are."

The boy only looked at her, his eyes closing as his smile shown brightly through the dark ocean waters.

"You can call me Gaito."

-Line break-

So what do you think? Reviews are greatly appriciated, and i do plan on making more of this, so tell me where you think it will go! My first MMPPP fanfic, so help me along here!


	2. A stolen pearl

ForgottenMelodyCh2

AN: So far 1 review! Let's keep up the good work :) this is going to be a somewhat dark story, and a love triangle, even though i'm not that big of a fan of pure romance, i'm trying my best, so this will be a Kaito X Lucia X Gaito story. Enjoy!

All around Lucia was darkness. Darkness consumed the sea as they swam down, down, to the bottom of the deepest crevice in the ocean floor, where the unlikly trio arrived at the gates of a large, stone castle, ominously built and looming in the murky waters.

Oddly though, Lucia thought, it seemed bright enough to see, but as she looked up, only blackness could be sought.

With a wave of his hand, the crumbling gates opened, answering to Gaito's silent command. He made his way in, and Lucia warily followed behind, looking around and observing and obsorbing every detail of the ominous castle walls, the looming pillars, and dark stone halls that would be her home for an indefinate period of time. Lucia felt like she should fear the place itself, yet at the same time felt welcomed, as if her heart yearned for the place. The castle was by no means homey, but she felt like she belonged, yet her heart told her to flee as soon as possible.

She followed on Gaito's heels as he made his way through the castle, turning an infinite number of lefts and rights until they arrived at a great hallways. Lucia's eyes widened as she took in the scene, the two making their way to the end of the hall.

The hall had a soft red rug running down the center, the brick walls no longer slate grey but instead a warm, royal blue. Six giant, thick pillars lined the sides, 3 on each side. Each pillar was made of ornately carved designs set in grey stone, and the pillars extended to the vaulted roof 30, 40, maybe 50 feet above Lucia's head. The thing that intrigued Lucia about the columns was that about 2 feet above the base of the column was a smooth, glass cylinder, as thick as the column (about 3 feet in diameter) and extending about 7 feet tall. The cylindrical containers held a strange liquid that didn't seem to be quite water, but even through the glass emmited a sweet smell, like lavender.

At the end of the hall, three steps made there way up to a platform that had one more pillar right down the center of the room, in the middle-back of the platform. A skylight from the roof let a circular spotlight shine into the middle of the platform, where a stool housed a black pillow with gold lining. Ontop of the pillow was a crown (which looked more like a tiara than a crown if you asked Lucia) made of dark silver, and seven circular clasps arranged around the crown, looking as if they had lost their gems.

Suddenly, Gaito stopped, and Lucia ran into him headfirst. She swam backward, blushing furiously, and Gaito turned around to look at her. 'I'm in trouble now...' the mermaid thought.

Gaito gently placed Kaito down, laying him on the carpeted steps. Rising, he looked Lucia in the eye, holding out his hand to her. "Your Pearl, please," the words fell off his toung like velvet.

Lucia mearly nodded in response, hand touching her locket. The shell oppened on command, and her Pink Pearl fell into her cupped hand. She held it out to him, and as he went to snatch it from her, she quickly closed her hand around it, blocking his path. Gaito frowned in frusteration, while Lucia looked at him seriously.

"If i give you this pearl," she spoke, her voice flat and serious, "You promise to heal Kaito-san?"

Gaito sighed in frusteration. "I already promised, and I never back down on my promises. Now give me the pearl." He stuck his hand expectantly out to her, and although he seemed serious, his eyes looked like they were begging for the pearl.

Lucia couldn't help but giggle as she dropped the pearl into his hand, and Gaito quickly turned around, hoping the girl couldn't see his blushing face as he fumbled to stick the pearl on the top of the Tiara.

letting out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, he turned around after he composed himself. He grabbed Kaito, holding him by his underarms, and carrried him over to the glass case, walking around behind it, he oppened up an almost invisible glass door. He placed his twin inside the tank, typing a code onto a keypad. Glowing green liquids shot into the chamber from jets, and he smirked, as Lucia's eyes gleamed with hope. He knew what she was thinking; that her Kaito would be healed, he would be saved. But he knew the truth. Kaito was alive, and it was no miracle that would bring him back to conciousness, as no Panthalassa prince would ever drownd. The liquid emmitting into the chamber was no miracle cure, simply a sleep syrum that would keep his brother at bay until he needed him, maybe toy with his memories a bit. It would keep him out of the way for the moment, and it gave him the opurtunity to test the syrum before he could use it on the mermaid princesses. Originally, the chamber was where he planned to put his most prised capture, the princess that would become the successor to Aqua Regina herself, but instead, he had made her much more useful.

She was an ally.

-Line break-

"LUCIA-SAMAAAAA!" An exhausted Hippocampi ran about the palace of the pink pearl, searching for his princess, who had been missing for the past few hours.

Worriedly, he twiddled with his fins, wondering "This is bad, she has her pearl with her! This is bad, bad, bad..."

A servant of the pink pearl, Nikora, swam up behind Hippo, turning the blue penguin around and putting a hand on his shoulder, assuring him "I'm sure Lucia will come home soon. My birthday party was terribly boring, after all, so she probably left to explore. She's getting to that age where she has an opinion, and isn't afraid to say it yet."

Although Nikora's words were reassuring, her expression was heavy with worry. "Lucia-sama is most defiantly alright.

And besides, now she has her pink pearl to protect her..."

-line break-

Lucia placed a small hand on the tank containing her first love. "Kaito..." she spoke softly, her voice equally concerned and loving. She rocked back and forth on her heels nervously. Yes, HEELS. Upon Gaito's request, she had transformed into her human form, but her body would never allow her to drowned.

Lucia donned pink ribbons tied up in her hair in bows, which had turned a soft honey gold, her eyes remaining the same cerulean blue, and her outfit was a warm cotton candy pink dress with a sweetheart neckline, pink ruffles lining the top (to see Lucia's outfit, search 'melody lucia dress' into google images), and no shoes or gloves. They would have been unnecessary attachments, as the once cold and murky water had become warm and clear. Or at least around the castle.

On her tip toes, she reached up to put her hand near to Kaito's cheek, stroking the glass that held him like a caged bird.

"Please wake up soon Kaito," she spoke to his deaf ears. "It's been almost a month, you know. It really is lonely here, but Gaito makes nice company. He's been nothing but kind to me, and for that I am grateful, but i feel as if something is missing.." Lucia's eyes soaked in every detail of him, from the Panthalasian robes he had donned when they had first entered the castle, his once tan skin becoming paler every day, his brown hair that fell around his head like a halo. If only she could see his eyes, just once more...

"Watashi wa, anata o aishite imasu, Kaito," she whispered, her voice barely audible to even her own ears. Her whole being hoped he could hear her though, even in his current state. Even so, a small part of her knew her efforts were futile, that her prayers may forever go unanswered. Trying to fight down the stinging in her eyes, she offered "Nee, Kaito, how about i sing you a lullaby?"

No response

Lucia closed her eyes, hand wrapping around her now empty locket as she looked up at the skylight and began to sing.

"lacrimosa once again...

I will love this world's beauty..

That is now gone, dead to my eyes...

It vanished that day, shattered at dawn-

Don't let dreams show in your eyes...

Hide the light deeper inside,

with all the tears, you should have cried...

Tormented heart, your tainted by your own fears..."

Lacrimosa. The name of the song burned into Lucia's heart as her lullaby went almost unheard except for one...

"Oi, Lucia-san..." Lucia turned around to see Gaito leaning against the archway that lead into one of the many hallways of the castle. The dark prince was watching her peculiarly, his eyes studying her, judging, accepting...

"Oi!" he called once more to grasp Lucia's wandering attention once more, now firmly. His eyes met her, and although they seemed firm, they had the usual softness in them that they had whenever he looked at Lucia, and only towards her. "That was a beautiful lullaby, certainly not the trash Aqua Regina makes those mermaid princesses sing." He looked down at the ground, shuffling his feet. "It's getting late. Do you think.. you can.. um.."

"Can i what?" Lucia inquired.

Gaito stood up, and, now with confidence, asked "Will you sing me to sleep?"

Lucia blinked, oblivious to his nervousness, and nodded, running from Kaito's spot at the end of the grand hallway to the opposite side, the entrance, her pink dress flowing softly behind her as her feet hit the soft carpet, often tripping over themselves as she still wasn't used to walking on two feet instead of swimming. She slowed down to a walk as she neared the dark prince, and she grabbed his hand, practically dragging the blushing prince to his bedroom.

Instead of a bed in his room, Gaito slept on a long, velvet couch, pillows scattered at each end. When they reached his room, Lucia walk/skipped over to the end of the couch, and motioning Gaito over. Warily, the prince layed down on the couch, resting his head in the young princess' lap. The soft silk of her dress was far comfier than any of the pillows gathered on the couch, he silently decided, and much warmer, too.

Closing his eyes, Gaito suddenly felt the sleepless nights of planning his attack catching up to him. "Please, Lucia," his voice had lost it's usual sharp, mocking tone, now comming out layzily and a mumble, "Sing me a lullaby, please..."

Even though she sensed that the dark prince was already nearly asleep, she sang a soft, short but powerful melody that she had been working on for a bit now. Gently, she spoke the words:

"Estia kasa misti vidi ato..."

The prince's figure had now completely slackened onto Lucia's lap, lost in a dreamless sleep. Lucia grabbed a nearby pillow, gently exchanging her lap for the dark velvet. As she walked towards the door, she blew out the candle that had been lighting up the room, closing the door soundlessly behind her, unknowing that this act would soon become routine, as would what was to happen to her next...

-line break-

Lucia grogily made her way to her room, that just so happened to be located on the exact opposite end of the castle. 'oh well, at least it's close to the Grand Hall...' she blushed 'and Kaito...'

She had one more hallway to go, when suddenly, all 7 flames on the candelabra she was holding went out, leaving her surrounded in total darkness.

Surprised and scared, Lucia let out a high pitched "Eep!" as she dropped to the floor, hugging her knees as she crouched (think the "L" position from Death Note). Then, silently and ominously, a single candle lit up at the end of the hallways, at the enterance to the Great Hall, liting up a circle around the candle.

Carfully, Lucia made her way to the candle, her eyes squinting at the sudden bright light. Her right arm reached for the candle, but before her hand could reach the melting wax, a sharp pain struck her arm as a thickly woven seaweed whip wrapped around her arm. She tried to pull it off, but another whip shot out of the darkness, wrapping around her ankles, causing her to trip and fall. Just as she was about to knock over the table on her decent, a final whip lashed out, grasping her left wrist. The ankle whip pulled her backwards, and the whips on her arms pulled outward, dragging Lucia into a cross position, the seaweed holding her above the pathway. As she strugled to break free of their grasp, the whips became more like vines than seaweed, beggining to crawl acrost her skin. The vines began to lace down her arms, prickling the young girl's skin, and held them firmly in place. They crawled along her chest, into the hem of her dress and along her body, crawling under her dress and circling around her abdomen before both sides headed downward, weaving in and out of her legs, braiding them together.

Lucia, pupils small, doned a terrified expression as a voice spoke out to her from the darkness. "So, this is Gaito-sama's latest pet?"

"A mermaid, too. Quite the interesting choice." a second voice spoke out.

"Waaa, look at her! So vunerable and scared! How easy it would be to to freeze her soul right now..." said a third voice.

"But that's no fun," said the voice of a young girl, " I finally found someone of equal skill in sleep music!"

Four shadows formed around the candle, each laughing. Lucia used their laughs to put voices to faces.

The first woman wore a dark dress and had a mess of red hair, the second wore a yellow bandana and a tube top and mini skirt, the third had long pale hair and an icy blue dress, and the third wavy green hair and a red victorian dress, no older that twelve.

Sudenly, the first woman stepped in front of the others, facing Lucia, who's head was lowered in an attempt to fake unconciousness.

The woman laughed at the mermaid, cupping Lucia's chin in her hand and forcing the young girl to look up at her. "Tsk," she grunted, "I can't see why Gaito-sama would adopt a weak pet such as yourself when he already has me, Izumi."

"And I, Eril!" said the second.

"And me, Maria" the third.

"But only if I, Yuri, die, will he accept any of you three." the fourth girl boasted, smirking.

The first woman, Izumi, smirked, and released Lucia's chin, raising her hand above her head, and bringing it down across Lucia's face before the young girl could process what was going on.

Lucia tried to cradel her face in her hand, but the vines held firm, and tears began to sting her eyes. She was tempted to call for Kaito, but she would rather let him heal than endanger her. If these woman worship Gaito-san, than she would bring them him.

Choking on her words, Lucia called out, "Gaito!"

The first woman had backed away into the bunch, which paused for a moment, surprised, before bursting out laughing.

"You really are stupid, aren't you?" Yuri called out, walking over to the ensnared princess, "If not for you, i'm sure Gaito would be awake and dashing over here, but you have become your own demise!" she shrieked, reaching for something at her waist. "The lullaby you sang him was truly a masterful sleep spell, i'll give you credit for that. It could possibly be on par with my piano's Dark Concerto; no easy feat for only being five words."

A sadistic grin spread over the young girl's face, as she pulled a whip out from her belt, practically squealing with delight as she said "Let's see if i can get you to crack!"

-line break-

Lucia thanked Aqua Regina that her room wasn't that far away. she cradled her stomach as she dragged herself to the bed, or rather, pile of giant pink pillows arranged around the floor, and collapsing once she reached her destination.

The young princess mustered a sly smile, breathing out the words "And they thought it was a sleep spell..." before closing her eyes and singing as the pink pillows became a much darker shade.

-~~-~-DEAD END~-~-

I warned darkness, didn't I?

So chapter 2! I have an unruly obsession with Kalafina right now, so i will be using their song's for Lucia instead of the cheesy goodness that is MMPPP. The beautiful melodys seem somewhat more suiting for Lucia right now. If you want to hear the song Lucia sang to Kaito, go to youtube and search "Kalafina lullaby" and the first result should be a picture of kuroshitsuji II. God, i love that show.

As always, please review! No, honestly, do you KNOW how much an author savors reviews? I only got one so far, from a guest, and it compleatly made my day. SO REVIEW!


	3. A tainted pearl

ForgottenMelodyCh3

AN; 5 reviews, but it hasn't even been up a week! Thank you all my guest who reviewed! Btw, there's a traffic chart; i can tell all the people who viewed it and didn't review! Onore! (jk thanks for reading this crappy story) Now on with the story! Oh, and just a warning; this chapter is rated M for a near-lemon experience! Sorry...

TIMESKIP~ 7 YEARS LATER...

Lucia held the candelabra in front of her as she walked soundlessly behind Gaito, on they way to his room before going to bed. The day was July 3rd, seven years after rescuing her beloved Kaito, yet she still awaited his awakening. The princess had almost lost hope, yet Gaito assured her he was doing the best he could to save Kaito.

The two royalty eventually came upon Gaito's room, and Lucia hung the candelabra on the wall near the door, walking over to the velvet couch, now underneath a blue silk canopy with gold trim, and sitting down near the end. The event of Lucia singing Gaito to sleep had become routine over the past seven years, and they would chat before Gaito fell asleep on Lucia's lap, then Lucia would take her light and leave.

As Gaito laid on Lucia's lap, he was uneasy. He felt like he was forgetting something, like something was missing, and a hunger to find that missing something struck him like lightning.

"Nee, Lucia, it's your birthday, isn't it?"

She nodded, "Yeah, i'm 14."

Gaito smirked, eyes shooting open, "14, you say? For mermaids, i believe that's when you're considered to be adults, nee?"

Lucia's laughed, her voice wary as she stroked Gaito's silver hair. "Yeah, i guess so. But i don't feel any older, just-"

Gaito's hand shot through the dark water, gripping Lucia's hand with painful force.

Lucia frowned, trying to shake her hand free from his grasp. "Gaito, let me go please, I don't want to force you to sleep, so please let me- Aah!"

Lucia's voice yelped as Gaito threw her to the carpeted floor, on his hands and knees over her, his once closed eyes now wide open and filled with lust. "Come on, Lucia. We're adults now, right?" Lucia's eyes shot open when she realized what he meant by that.

"Gaito, stop it!" She pleaded, her voice cracking as she began to sing "E-est-t-tia ka..sa.."

The sleepiness instantly became clear in Gaito's hungry eyes, but he would fight, he wouldn't give up this opportunity, and forced his lips onto hers to stop the spell, cupping his hands around her face. Lucia closed her eyes, a tear falling from each of her widened eyes.

As he slowly began to pull away, he stayed close, and his hand snaked from her cheeks, down her neck, her collarbone, and down each curve of her figure, finally reaching the bottom of her pink dress, and pulled upward. Lucia tried to smack his hand away, but his free left hand held both her hands above her head, and his legs pinned hers to the floor. She was as helpless as a baby agains the dark prince's hungry lust.

When the dress had been freed of Lucia's skin, Gaito's lustful movements froze, his blood red eyes becoming wider, colder, and serious as they locked on the numerous scars than lined her chest and abdomen. "Lucia.." he spoke softly to the crying girl, "who did this to you?"

His question went unanswered as the princess continued to cry, unable to form words, mute. The prince's shock turned from concern to anger as he threw Lucia onto her stomach, his eyes soaking in the giant tear-shaped scar on the small of her back and the quarter-sized crescent moon scar between her shoulder blades. Once more, the dark prince demanded to know who did this to her.

Lucia was giving up on hope. The prince who had sheltered her was lost in blind lust and passion, and couldn't think straight. He had already stolen her pearl, her first kiss, and soon, her innocence, but she was helpless to stop him. 'Kaito.. save me..' her only hope was truth. "The dark lovers"

Gatio stood up from the floor, leaving brusies on her wrists and ankles where he had held her firm, and looked down at her, straight in the eye as he spoke "Don't move. Don't even think about moving. I have some buisness to take care of, but i'll be back," he moved to the door as he spoke, grabbing the candelabra and blowing out the lights one by one, before leaving Lucia in the dark.

Slowly, the sound of his footsteps began to fade as the prince dashed down the hall, Lucia to terified to move until the sound of his footsteps had conpleatly vanished. Once they were gone, she stood up shakily, leaning on the couch for support. She changed into her mermaid form, no longer needing a dress to hide her scars (a quarter sized crescent between her shoulder blades, a palm-sized tear drop on the small of her back, a pinky-length scar over her right rib) and swam after Gaito soundlessly, searching for the only other sound in the entire castle; the shrieks of screams, and the cracks of whips.

Lucia stopped behind Gaito, covering her mouth at the scene before her. "Stop it," she pleaded, "please... stop!"

Her prayers went unanswered as Gaito continued his wrath. Already, two of the Dark Lovers, Izumi and Eril, were on the ground, unconscious, pale, lying next to each other in a large pool of blood, their eyes dull and empty. Maria attempted to make a shield of Ice as Gaito cracked his whip her way, only to have the ice break and wrap around her arm. When Gaito pull the whip back, a coil of red ringed around Maria's arm. He then turned to Yuuri, raising his whip above his hand, ready to beat the already bleeding and nearly unconscious girl, when the whip was stollen from his grasp, and it clattered to the ground as a warm figure pressed against his back, two warm arms wrapping around his body, pinning his arms to his side.

Two blonde pony tails floated in the water at the edge of his vision. "I told you to stay in my room, Lucia!" he began to squirm in her grasp. "Now, let me go!"

His demands were refused, and Lucia tightened her hold around the prince. "No, i refuse to let others get hurt, even if they deserve it. If there's something i can do to help, i will save everyone who needs to be saved"

Gaito smirked "But there is nothing you can do to help."

Lucia shoot her head, which was resting on his shoulder."No, your wrong."

Gaito, frowned, about to retort, when it hit him, but by then it was too late.

The voice of the princess sounded throughout the dead silence of the passageway "Estia kasa misti vidi ato.."

Gaito's eyes suddenly felt really heavy, and it seemed like such a burden to stand. "Damn.. you..~" he mumbled through gritted teeth as he sank into Lucia's arms, lost in dreamless sleep.

Lucia placed the Dark Prince on the ground carefuly, and looked around the room, backing away at the bloody sight. 'no,' she thought 'this isn't what i want.. not at all!'

The princess turned around and dashed out of the castle, swimming in no certain direction, only away.

-(LINE BREAK)-

Finally stopping, Lucia, now out of breath and tired from swimmng for god knows how long, saw the ruins of a palace of gold. Only some of the palace, however, was ruins; most of it had or was being reconstructed. Yellow mermaids and mermen swam about buisly, each with their own mission. She realized that this was the South Pacific kingdom, home to the mermaids of yellow. She didn't really feel that out of place, and knew that mermaids from the north visited here often, so her pink tail wouldn't stick out that much. However, she still pulled a white veil over her head, protecting her platnum blonde pigtails from sticking out. A pink mermaid with yellow hair? Now THAT would stick out around here.

Lucia wandered aimlessly around one of the calmer parts of the palace, absorbing the scenery and loving the warm waters. She was so absorbed in everything that she failed to notice the blonde mermaid heading her way until they ran smack into each other.

The other mermaid had clashed heads with Luica, backing away as she cradled her head, mumbling "ow ow ow ow ow.."

Lucia thought the blow as nothing, but was still concerned for the girl. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I didn't look where i was going..."

The yellow mermaid looked up, smiling, now perfectly fine. "Well, then that would make two of us!" she held out her hand to Lucia. "I'm Coco. I live here, but judging by your tail, your just visiting."

Lucia took her hand, shaking it. "Nice to meet you, Coco." she said with a smile. The two girls looked out a window to an area of the palace being worked on.

Coco's smile suddenly became wary. "After the storm from the Indian Ocean seven years ago, it's been almost too peaceful in the oceans, don't you think?" she let out a small sigh, and laughed softly. "I wish it would stay this way forever. I hope i don't jinx anything, though!"

The two mermaids swam to a small pavilion that overlooked the palace, and the corner of Lucia's mouth twitched, daring the pink princess to smirk. "Well, we can hope, but nothing lasts forever." she looked at Coco, her bright smile replaced by a suddenly serious expression. "I wouldn't get your hopes up, though."

Lucia began to swim back into the ocean, leaving Coco on that not-so-happy note. "Wait!" Coco called out, causing Lucia to freeze and turn around. "I never got your name!"

The pink princess smiled at her, her eyes soft and wary as she said "My name is Lucia. Nanami Lucia." with that the princess turned around, and continued to swim out to the blue sea.

Coco put a hand to her chin, thinking, "Lucia.. pink tail.. something is framilliar about her.."

The realization hit her like lightning. "Guards!" the yellow princess called, and 3 yellow mermen with lances immeadeatly rushed to her side. "Follow that mermaid!" she pointed to the pink blur that was quickly disappearing in the distance. "No matter how far, how deep! Don't let her see you, though!

We've found the lost princess!"

-(LINE BREAK)-

The three guards followed the pink mermaid up north, past the north pacific, and into the arctic, into a crevice on the ocean floor that, according to the maps, didn't exist. As they swam down, down, down, they wondered if there was a bottom to the crack in the ocean floor, or if the mermaid had stopped swimming and was right next to them? The men didn't know, and couldn't see anything through the opaque darkness of the murky ocean waters. Just when they thought they were hopeless, the waters became suddenly clear, and a large cave opened up, the water clear as crystal, to reveal a Castle of grey stone. The ominous towers gave all three men chills as they watched the young mermaid, around the same age as their golden princess, enter the castle through the front doors, which closed with a loud bang as soon as she was through. They cautiously moved toward the castle, but as they were close, a female voice rang out from behind them, causing them all to freeze.

"Hikari tozasu BAROKKU utsukushiki NOIZU to nare

Kuroi wana no sasayaki yurikago de eien ni nemure..."

The three mermen couldn't move. Their body's wouldn't allow it. The voices of those Sirens had entranced the men, and their bodies had become slaves to the wills of the two Sirens who sang their dark melody.

The taller Siren smiled, hugging the smaller one. "Nee, sister Mimi, i think we've found some new toys."

The younger Siren smiled, clinging her small body against that of her older sister, their curves fitting together like a puzzle. "Nee, sister Shishi, Gaito-sama will like this. They will become quite useful for us." Her euphoric expression locked on the mermen. "But for now, let's have some fun..."

-(LIKE BREAK)-

Lucia swam cautiously through the castle halls, making her way to the throne room. There, Gaito paced back and forth, and as she entered the hall, his head shot up, and a smile lit his previously grim face.

"Lucia!" he began to dash to Lucia, leaping into her arms once he was close enough, wrapping around the princess' mermaid form. She let his head rest on her shoulder, also wrapping his arms around his back, stroking his hair softly, gently.

"Lucia, don't you EVER run away again." Gaito's words were serious, yet he spoke to her in a gentle tone. "I was so worried about you." His grip around her tightened. "I was so alone.."

Lucia smiled, and reassured him, "I promise i won't run away from you anymore." Lucia NEVER broke her promises. Ever. "I will be here for you."

Gaito's worried expression left his face with a sigh, and the prince let his face fall into it's usual smirk. His eyes peeked at her back, bare except for the strap of her shell bra. 'how vulnerable..' he thought. His left hand stayed wrapped around her upper back, his right hand snaking it's way down her hips, tracing the tear drop scar on the small of her back.

Lucia's form stiffened, her arms tense as they wrapped around Gatio's back, but her form relaxed as the movement of his hand made her euphoric, exhilarated, absorbed and intoxicated. Pure pleasure sent shivers up her spine as she shook in his arms.

A voice in the back of her mind screamed at her, telling her 'stop it! This is wrong! You promised yourself for Kaito!'

Right now, that didn't matter. It didn't matter how wrong it felt, for how could something so wronge feel so.. right?

"You swear it?" His warm breath whispered into her ear, checking for confirmation.

She nodded, "I never break my promises. Don't you know that?" she would have continued, but she could only moan at the feeling of his soft hands toying with her skin, tugging ever-so gently on the strap of her shell bra, begging it to come loose. His hand traced the pearl strap, curving around her waist, making it's way to her front. His hands traced the outline of her pink shells, and began to fondle what hid behind the pink shells.

Lucia moaned, her eyes shooting open in suprise at his erotic movement, when she noticed something. Something in the Grand Hall had changed.

Something was gone.

She pushed Gaito off of her, her eyes locked on a structure at the far end of the hall. "Gaito..." she stated warily, her eyes widening, "Gaito... why is Kaito's tank shattered?"

Gaito gritted his teeth. He hadn't planed on letting her notice this. He had sworn that his entrancement would have enstared the princesses, especially now with a fair ammount of power regained from the two worthless servants he had gotten rid of.

"Gaito... where's Kaito?"

Gaito hung his head in mock shame. "Gomenesai, Lucia." He spoke, crunching his hands into fists at his side. "When i was asleep, i was awoken by the sound of shattering glass from somewhere in the castle. When I arrived in the Grand Hall, the tank had been shattered, and Kaito had fled to land."

"Chigau!" the pink princess cried, her head sinking into her hands. "Kaito-kun would never leave me alone!" Her shoulders bounced up and down with her muffled sobs. "Never..."

Gaito's looked with a gentle expression as he watched Lucia sink to the ground, her sobbs growing louder, and as they died down, she whisperd "Kaito..". Her head sank, her vision locking on the ground.

Her hands curled into fists as she spoke, "damn you... damn it all." A grey light surrounded the girl's necklace, and Gaito took a step back, shielding his eyes with his arm as the light immersed the room, blinding him. When the light died down, Lucia remained in the same position, but her bleach blonde hair had now turned an inky black, her pink tail and shells now a murky grey.

Gaito walked over to the weaping girl, surprising her by cradling her in his arms. She looked up from her hands, crystal tears falling from her widened eyes. "Now it's my turn to promise you myself." Lucia burried her face in his chest, "I won't betray you like that stupid human. He wasn't worth of you, anyways."

Lucia stood up , wiping the final tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "Gaito.." her voice was wary, hesitant, and soft, "Gaito, is all of humanity like this? Like him? Greedy, selfish, stupid, ignorant..?"

Gaito closed his eyes, nodding with a small 'mhh' he had never actually met a human, but all the text in the library portrayed them as dim-witted, petty creatures.

Lucia scoffed, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around her waist and looking down and to the right. "Pathetic. How pathetic!" she looked up into Gaito's eyes. "Even more pathetic are we, who sit at the bottom the the ocean, alone and in the dark, while they rule the world. Don't you think it's time this world saw a little bit of darkness, a harsh reality?" Lucia leaned forward, whispering into the dark prince's ears as her hands cupped his face. "when I was little, I heard stories from my nursemaid, about how if all seven mermaids gathered, they could summon Aqua Regina, a being of immense power." her warm breath sent shivers down Gaito's spine as it tickled his neck when she spoke, "those mermaids are worthless, too. Helpless without their princesses. If we gathered the princesses, we could use their pearls to summon Aqua Regina and regain control of the sea." the corner of her mouth twisted up in a cold smirk, "Wouldn't that be great?"

Gaito nodded, his fingers toying with her darkened hair. He thought it was more beautiful this way, and suited her better now. Her plan was ambitious, genious, and devious, everything he always thought her not to be. Only one flaw remained in it, though. "Lucia, once we capture the mermaid princesses, where will they go? We can't have them frollicing around the castle now, can we?"

Lucia pulled away from his embrace, and spread her arms wide, motioning around the room. "Six empty chambers for six remaining princesses. With the comming battle, i'm sure they will be happy with eternity to rest afterwards."

As Gaito looked downward, the light shaded over his eyes as the corners of his mouth curled upward. "Brilliant..." he muttered, then threw his head back, laughing maniacally. "JUST BRILLIANT!" Lucia looked at him straingly at first, but then covered her mouth as she giggled, not being able to supress her laughter

When he calmed down, Lucia looked at him, and spoke "When should we start?"

"As soon as possible, of course." he replied, "Tomorrow sounds good."

Lucia nodded, and headed off towards her bedroom. As she swam away, Gaito called to her "Pack warmly! The closest kingdom is the Arctic!"

(END CHAPTER)

Ok, see that little button at the bottom of the page? CLICK IT. I can see the traffic to my story - I KNOW IF YOUR READING THIS. So if you are, thank you! I really apreciate you taking your time to read this little story of mine . but i would apreciate it even more if you told me how you felt about it XD


	4. A frosted pearl

ForgottenMelodyCh4

AU: ok, i'm going to try to make consistent updates on Fridays from now on! Or maybe Wednesdays, whichever is more convenient. If you're a fan of my other stories, i apologize, i really do feel bad... I havn't updated in a year... and 'Kagome goes to orange star high' thank you for 50 reviews! Most reviewed story yet XD!

So anyways i have the rest of this story planned out, and i try to be as descriptive as possible, so that the chapters are long enough for ya ;D i try to hit between 2k-4k each, but that's just a rough estimate. Ever try writing and uploading on an iphone? It's.. not easy...

*sigh* sorry for my rant, but on with the story!

CHAPTER 3 - frosted pearls

Lucia awoke the next morning atop a pile of soft, pink pillows. A scowl quickly adorned her features, eyeing the pillows pointedly. She would have to have those colors changed soon, as pink was far too light of a color for her mood anymore.

She slowly got to her feet, her hair, out of it's usual twin-tails, which pooled around her on the cold floor, and began to stretch to shake of the early morning stiffness. As she put an arm across her chest, pulling back with her free arm, a lock of her hair fell in front of her face. Her crystal blue eyes widened when she saw the strand was not the familiar blonde, but now an inky black.

She was silently surprised at her new findings, but could only muster the will to sigh, as anything more would just be a bother, and it wasn't as if the color of her hair would change anything, as it was a mere reflection of the current state of her soul; truly, it was her soul that mattered.

Well, to the other mermaids, at least. Her soul, that is. Lucia embraced her feelings, no matter how she felt, and the darkness residing in her soul would only make her songs all the more powerful.

Once the tainted princess felt stretched enough, she walked over to her mirror, sitting down on a pedestal of intricately carved stones. Her hands hovered over before grabbing a white shell that had been chiseled into a brush, and began to run it through her hair, stroking the inky tuffs. Once they had gone smooth as silk, she looked over her accessories, deciding which would be appropriate for today's events. She chose a ringlet of frosted glass pearls, and tied them up into her hair. She settled on those as her final and only jewelry, and trotted over to the closet.

Everything was wrong. From the frilly green ball gown to the bedazzled rainbow assortment of shell bras, nothing was suited to her taste like it used to. Even the soft pink gown of which she had worn so often and grown fond of had lost it's place in her now darkened heart.

It wasn't until she thought she had thrown each outfit to the ground that she saw the one dress suited for today's events. It was so simple, yet elegant, graceful, and suiting. 'twas perfect! (i don't want to explain, so it's dark Sara's white dress w/ the black belt)

Once the 14 year old mermaid had changed, she examined herself in the mirror once more, smiling at what she saw, satisfied. The smile, though containing a certain degree of happiness, had a new coldness to it that had never been there before.

Lucia wandered through the halls, making her way to Gaito's room. Her thoughts focused on the day ahead of her, on what Gaito and she were about to accomplish.

The voice in the back of her head, now dim, yet so hard to ignore, sighed at her current state, asking her if this is what she truly wanted. 'Of course it was!' the lost princess thought, cross-examining her resolve.

Was she happy? She was by no means unhappy, albeit a tad lonly, but that lonliness was filled by Gaito's promise to her, and vice versa.

Was she satisfied? If everything went how she thought it would, she would have everything she ever treasured dear close to her, and the world at her fingertips.

Her resolve had not changed, she decided, and physically shook her head as if to shake the voice from the back of her head. 'If only,' she thought.

She peaked her head into Gaito's room, and found him fast asleep on the couch, his head resting on a satin pillow, his spiky silver locks falling over his face, which bore a uncharacteristically peaceful expression. She walked over to his side, kneeling down, and gently moved the grey strands away from his face. She leaned foward, whispering into his ear, "Gaito, come," her voice dripped with seduction, pleading him to follow her will. "Nee, Gaito..."

His burgandy eyes fluttered open at the sound of her voice, the feeling of her warm breath prickling the skin on his neck, awakening him from his dreamless slumber.

As his eyes met hers, she only smiled at him, the back of her right hand resting on his cheek. It moved under his chin, and began to lift upwards. As her hand moved away, Gaito propped up on his elbow, his face moving to keep next to her hand, and his hand pealed away from under his dark blanket to grab her warm hand, softly kissing the back of her hand. She closed her eyes and giggled, a notion he was surprised she could still muster.

She pulled her hand away, and Gaito sat up, removing the blanket from his body and folding it, setting it on the end of the couch. Lucia stood and waited for him by the doorway as he grabbed his most elaborate, flamboyant coat in his closet. It didn't cover much of his chest, but had long sleeves with fur lined wrists, rose around the back of his neck, and although the front was revealing, the back trailed down below his knees.

He buttoned the sides together at mid chest, smirked as he walked over to Lucia. "It's time, Lucia," he spoke, summoning his staff from the air. He raised the staff into the air, and shouted, "Black Beauty Sisters! I summon thee to my side; oh loyal servants, come to your king!"

The two servants quickly appeared in front of the Dark Prince and Lost Princess, along with 3 not-so-invited guests.

"Gaito-sama.." Shishi practically purred as she said his name, stepping in front of Mimi. "I found these, and we thought they could be useful in the near future," she motioned to the three yellow mermen, who stood lined up shoulder to shoulder. Each man's arms hung limply at their side, their heads lurching foward, their golden eyes open and murky. "When Lucia-sama returned from her swim, we found these three hot on her trail."

"They were about to enter the castle, but we stopped them." Mimi piped up, "their souls were so weak, so easy to capture. It was pathetic, really." the blue water demon looked up at her pair, smiling and moving in closer, pressing against her side, "Nee, sister Shishi?"

Shishi grinned, holding Mimi closer, wrapping her cold arms around the younger girl's body, edging Mimi closer to her generous chest. "Indeed, sister Mimi." as a blush began to grace Mimi's cheeks, Shishi looked towards Gaito. "What would you like us to do, Gaito-sama?"

Gaito brought his hand to his lips, thinking about it for a moment. A plan struck him, and he gave the sisters their instructions, "Black Beauty Sisters, put those mermen into a back room, where we can keep them for later,"

Immediately, Mimi disappeared, vanishing along with the three mermen. A few seconds later, she reappeared. "Done," the demon purred.

"Good, now come with us, and prepair your microphones. Your songs, our concert shall pierce the Arctic!"

o0o (LINE BREAK) o0o

"Voice In the Dark!

Yami no FORIA

Shinju no kizuna ubae

Voice In the Dark!

Saa! Hajimaru utsukushiku karei na SHOU

Voice In the Dark!

Uta ni nosete

Kodama suru yami no chikara"

Lucia couldn't help but cringe at the noise. Not music, noise. Even she knew that such a cruel sounding song could never be considered music.

When Gaito first created the sisters, he had convinced Lucia to sit through countless hours of them singing to her, and eventually she became immune to their voice. Eventually.

Lucia shuddered. Even the memory hurt.

As the sisters sang, mermaids all over the hall of the Indigo Palace sank to the ground, quickly passing out from the agony of the noise.

The two sisters lead the way, their voices sounding throughout the hall, maybe even the entire palace, followed by Gaito, then Lucia. Although last in line, Lucia wasn't that far behind, as Gaito made it his point to keep her close to him, no matter how safe the room was. She thanked him, only to confuse him as to why she would ask such a think. Lucia's only response was a soft laugh, and the word 'nevermind'.

Soon, the song ended, and they reached the doorway to the main hall of the Indigo Palace. No matter what they sang at the door, the sisters could not open it, nor could Gaito with his powers.

Lucia took a step foward, removing her pearl from her black locket, resting the pearl in her open palm. Somehow, the pearl had managed to remain pink, which left Lucia to discover an interesting ability. "Gaito, i have a plan." she smiled.

"Oh?" the Dark Prince questioned, eyebrows raising, "And what would that be?'

Lucia closed her eyes, her hand closing around the pearl. Suddenly, the inky locks of Lucia's hair began to turn back to their original platinum blonde, and Lucia looked up, finding a suprised group of evil-doers. "I can only keep this up for a little while; I'd say maybe the next ten minutes. I can use my pearl to open the door. I'll need you to pretend to hold me hostage, and we can go from their."

Lucia aproached the door, and Gaito nodded, silently telling her to go ahead. Lucia let her pearl flare with power, and the lapis lazuli gate began to creak open.

Before the mermaids inside could get a look at the bunch, Lucia's plan raced into action. The sisters jumped infront of Gaito and Lucia, raising their microphones as they began to sing 'yami no baroque'. Gaito pounced on Lucia, scooping her up in his arms, taking her by surprise as he held her against his body, holding her bridal style, only closer, tighter. Together, they entered the hall.

As the sisters sang, the indigo guards and servants withered in agony, dropping to the floor. Many passed out, only a few remained conscious, but those very few couldn't hear nor see, only twitching and convulsing on the dark blue marble floor.

About halfway through the song, Mimi and Shishi's singing was inturupted by the sound of a certain mermaid princess's voice from near a giant, indigo pearl that served as the throne.

"Ohime-sama!" one of the servants cried out to her princess, before falling unconcious. "Noel!" cried another, before suffering the same fate.

"Nanairo no, kaze ni fukarete..." Noel's gentle voice carried throughout the hall, causing the sisters to stop singing.

"tooi, misaki o mezashiteta..." the sisters eyes' suddenly bulged, and they gripped their ears, trying to block out the noise.

"yoake mae, kikoeta merodi.." Mimi couldn't hold it any longer, and let out a cry of pain, sinking to her knees.

"Sore wa totemo natsukashii uta!" Noel finished off the verse, and with a final cry, the sisters' screeched in pain before disappearing, vanishing back to the castle.

Noel looked up, glancing at the two remaining opponents, studying them. It was hard to tell who they were from this distance, as they were at the other end of the hall, near the entrance. It was moments like these where she wished she had glasses, but she was still determined to be strong without them.

The Indigo princess could only make out a figure with silver hair wearing dark clothing, who was holding a girl in a white dress with long, blond pigtails. The girl seemed to be in distress, so the Indigo mermaid figured the dark figure was the man behind the attack.

As he neared closer, Noel began to make out their figures more. The dark man had blood red eyes, never a good sign in her book, spiky silver hair, and a glowing golden cross on his forehead, a sign of the Panthalassa bloodline. Noel no longer figured, she KNEW he couldn't be any good.

She still had a hard time with the girl Gaito was holding. All she could tell was that the girl had long blonde pig tails, but she had been reverted to her human form, so she couldn't tell what kingdom she was from by her tail. The girl squirmed in Gaito's arms, twisting and turning in an attempt to flee his grasp. It was a brief moment that put Noel in a state of shock, when the young girl turned for half of a second, her crystal blue eyes filled with desperate tears, and a pink shell necklace reminiscent of Noel's own flailing around her neck.

Blonde pigtails. Crystal blue eyes. A pink necklace. Check, check, and check. Noel's eyes widened, pupils dialating. 'Nonono... she disappeared. Gone. Vanished from the face of the earth. Why would she be with HIM?' her thoughts ran amok as she tried to piece together a puzzle that seemed to stretch in 4 dimensions.

Noel spoke before she could realize the words comming from her mouth, "LUCIA! Hurry, come over here! Get away from that monster!"

Gaito took that as his que, and loosened his grip on his queen, silently suprised as well as somewhat hurt at being called a monster, having done nothing evil (yet) other than the fact he simply existed.

Lucia, on the other hand, plastered a fake smile on her face, breaking free of Gaito's grip, and fell to the floor. She was surprised that Noel had realized who she was without so much as a verbal hint, but her real reason for smiling was that her plans were moving along just swimmingly now.

As she scrambled to her feet, Lucia dashed over to Noel, who embraced her tearily. "Lucia. This can't really be you, can it?"

Lucia only nodded, returning Noel's embrace, resting her head on Noel's shoulder, who returned the motion.

Noel's eyebrows furrowed together. Could the princess not talk to her? "Lucia, tell me, verbally, is it really you? You, the princess of the North Pacific?"

Lucia mentally frowned. Noel was smarter than she thought she was. She would just have to be even smarter, then.

Lucia made the motion to open her mouth, move her toung, her jaw, but made sure nothing came out, only the sound of her choking on her own words.

"Your voice..." Noel gasped, "Did he take your voice?"

Lucia forced tears into her eyes, the crystals tracing down her cheek, falling from her chin when she nodded to confirm Noel's guess.

"No.. you can't even speak? Can't even sing?" Noel pitied the princess. A mermaid without her voice would be useless to her kingdom. Even though they worshiped their princess, they treasured her voice above all else, but if Lucia couldn't sing, then they would simply... find a new princess. "No wonder you fled; if you returned without a voice, then they would have..." she didn't want to finish the thought. Lucia was only 7 when she disappeared, yet she still knew the consequences of returning. It had to have been somewhat traumatic for her?

Noel wiped the tears from her eyes, squeezing Lucia tighter. "Even if you can't sing, I'll protect the both of us, and the seven seas, from Gaito, nee?" Lucia nodded, and Noel began to sing.

"Nanairo no, kaze ni fukarete

Tooi misaki o mezashiteta"

As noel sang, she looked at Gaito, the Dark Prince of the Panthalassa, who returned her glance with a smirk. She realized he wasn't being afected. He didn't even flinch. She closed her eyes, forcing more emoting, more power into her voice.

yoake mae, kikoeta merodi"

Still nothing. Noel could feel her eyes begin to sting, her mind screaming out in frustration as her voice continued the verse.

sore wa totemo, natzuka shii uta"

Noel would have continued the song, but she stopped when the tears threatening to fall escaped her eyes, and she let out a soft cry of frustration. "Why isn't it working?" she wondered out loud. The Indigo princess released Lucia, stepping between the pink mermaid (although in human form) and the Dark Prince. "Lucia.." Noel's voice spoke softly, "Lucia, run away. I know he's here for my pearl, and my kingdom. If you run... if you run, you can warn the others, nee?"

"Not just your pearl, Indigo Princess," Gaito addressed Noel, gaining the princess' attention, "I'm not just here for your pearl, but your entire existence; it belongs to me, and you're unworthy of Aqua Regina's power,"

"Besides, I'm not going anywhere," Lucia whispered into Noel's ear, stepping up behind Noel and wrapping her arms around Noel's body, pining the Indigo mermaid's arms at her side, rendering her unable to move.

Noel froze "You.. you said you couldn't talk..."

The Arctic Princess physically felt the water grow even colder than it already was (north pole, duh) when Lucia smirked. "I never said anything, now did I?"

Noel began to struggle in Lucia's grasp, attempting (and failing) to break free of Lucia's embrace. "Lucia, sing with me!" she pleaded to deaf ears "Gaito will destroy our kingdoms! Our homes! Together, I'm sure we can defeat him!"

A cold laugh sent chills down Noel's spine "My my, you really are as stupid as I thought you were." Lucia's voice was filled with venom and spite, "Why should I save a sea who gave me nothing? Protect a humanity that disgraces this earth? Gaito is my home now, his arms my castle." she scoffed as Noel continued to struggle against her, and tightened her embrace around Noel, who winced in pain. Who knew Lucia was so strong?

"My my, you need to calm down. You really are desperate, you know. I'm suprised that you were able to defeate Shishi and Mimi, though. " Lucia's hold on Noel tightened even more, and a loud 'CRACK' sounded through out the hall, causing Noel to scream in pain, her body stopping it's struggle. Lucia smiled, satisfied, her warm breath like sating agains Noel's ears "Now that must hurt, I bet." her voice spoke in a reassuring tone as she continued "Don't worry, I'll make all the pain go away soon, I promise."

Noel's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, Sapphire eyes looking down as she asked "What do you mean...?"

Her sentence would never recieve a clear answer, because by the time she realized what was happening, Lucia's words were slurred together, her vission was bluring, and the weight of the sea suddently felt really heavy..

"Estia kasa misti vidi ato.."

Lucia caugt the Indigo mermaid before she could hit the floor, and Gaito quickly gathered Noel in his arms, holding her bridal style.

Lucia looked at her warily, deciding that Noel was out cold, and gently pulled down the eyelids over Noel's hazzy eyes, which had lost any sense of being or of soul. It was always an unsettling sight to Lucia, to see a person's eyes, the window to their souls, lifeless, as if they were dead. In a sense, they were dead, or at least dead in conciousness. But this power... Lucia had read through every book in the vast Panthalassa library, yet there were no records on a mermaid being able to pause souls. Well, mermaids at least...

Oh well. One down, five more to go.

"I think the palace is going to collapse soon," Gaito looked around the room, looking at the celing warily, which was shaking from the impact of Shishi & Mimi's song "Let's go home, Lucia,"

And with that, the Dark Prince, the Tainted Princess, and the fallen mermaid of the frosted Atlantic Pearl vanished, just as the roof of the palace colapsed in on itself, destroying the palace, as well as anyone lucky to remain inside.

AU; Yeah, I just killed of an entire mermaid kingdom. Deal with it.

ok, so the 8 reviews have motivated me to make this an official Lucia X Gaito story! Indeed, they are a couple, but Lucia still loves Kaito, just loathes him, and vows to bring him back to the castle, putting him in a tank in her place so he can spend eternity by her side, while also loaning his power to Gaito, albeit unwillingly. I didn't know how to explain this in the story, so i just put it here XD


	5. A golden pearl

ForgottenMelodyCh5

Ermahgersh 10 reviews in... almost 2 weeks? EEEEP! Thanks for a lot of inspiration and motivation from:

Hope - ermahgersh thank you for reviewing more than one chapter when there were more than one up.. if that makes any sense XP but I'm really glad I'm giving inspiration, and my goal was to give people chills! It worked! just a final question; what part were you at when you got the chills?

But anyways, thank everyone for reviewing so far, and KEEP REVIEWING! SERIOUSLY REVIEW THIS BECAUSE I KNOW IF YOU'RE READING THIS AND I WILL FIND YOU AND... never mind. This is a T rated fic, so never mind.

Chapter 5 - pearls of gold

A short blue penguin sat nervously on a chair, chatting with a purple haired human, secretly a mermaid, owner of the Pearl Piari, a hotel retreat for mermaids. Nervous? Why so? currently, Hippo and Nikora were awaiting Madame Taki's latest fortune. Normally they didn't ask for fortunes, as they were more than often horribly incorrect, but Nikora could sense something in the sea was wrong. Terribly so, at that, but they didn't know what.

"Do you think it would have anything to do with her?" Nikora asked warily, looking out to the sea, watching an orange sun set over the waves peaking at the horizon.

Hippo looked down, knowing what she was implying. "Her" was the pink mermaid princess, Lucia. As a pink mermaid herself, Nikora had taken a big impact for the loss of the princess, as she had disappeared on the night of her 16th birthday party. Not only that, but the same night she had disappeared, Taki had received a fortune that Lucia would be the next Aqua Regina.

The loss of their princess had become a heavy burden upon the North Pacific. The government had run amuck without a proper head, and politicians fought, often to the death, for a spot near the top. Nikora had run away to land in the midst of the chaos, where she remained today.

Hippo sighed, following Nikora's gaze "More than likely, i would assume so. Hopefully, it's for the better."

Nikora's face donned a tired smile, "yeah, wouldn't that be great?"

A shrill scream erupted from Taki's room down the hall, and when the two found out the news, their prayers would be anything but answered.

o0o0o0o 7 YEARS AGO o0o0o0o

"Mitsuki..." Sara's eyes were shaded by the moonlight as she held half of an orange shell close to her heart, tears streaming from the shadow, "Mitsuki.. you abandoned me, didn't you?"

"Of course he would, he's just a stupid human," Sara's nursemaid scolded her "you should have seen this comming from such a petty creature."

"No! he wouldn't do this to me! That's not my Mitsuki!" Sara bit her lower lip to stop it from trembling and to hold back a scream "He wouldn't.." she whispered, then louder "HE WOULDN'T!"

The entire structure of the orange palace began to quake, Sara's scream of "noooo!" echoing throughout the trembling halls.

The structure of the room began to crumble, and Coco, who was by Sara's side to comfort her best friend's aching heart, swam full speed towards her just as rubble fell around the yellow and orange princess, trapping them. Coco could feel the immense strength of the currents near the ocean surface; surely, a handful of tidal waves had occured in the Indian, South Pacific, maybe even as far as the North pacific ocean.

The yellow mermaid wrapped her arms around Sara, covering her hand over the orange mermaid's mouth to silence her screams, and threw herself over Sara to protect the heartbroken mermaid from the falling castle. Dust scattered, blinding any mermaids lucky enough to still be in tact.

Once the dust had cleared, Sara could be seen with her eyes wide open, looking incredulous at not only the ruins that had once been her castle, but also her best friend. Sara moved a hand to touch Coco's back, only to pull away from a deep gash with fingertips covered in red. "Coco..." she breathed out "Coco, why would you protect me? Why?"

"tsk," the grunt hastily escaped Coco's throat, a smile struggling it's way to her lips, "Because I know that you still have a reason for living. If you had taken on that attack with a broken heart, your pearl would have turned black for sure." Coco backed away from Sara, the two huddling together in a cave created by pillars and shattered walls from the collapse. "Tarou was here yesterday; the nursemaid told him to leave you unannounced because you, the Orange mermaid princess, could not fall in love with a human. So he left."

"I have a plan,"Coco took Sara's hands in hers, looking her best friend in the eyes, "And I promise that you can see Tarou again."

"Is that really what happened? Why should I believe you?"

"Why shouldn't you?" Coco replied, her amber eyes filled with honesty and concern "Sara, Tarou is going to Japan to teach music. If you went missing... and all that was left was your pearl.. then.."

No more words were needed. Sara removed her hands from Coco's and grabbed her pendant in her right hand, flipping it open and removing her pearl. She opened her eyes, handing the Pearl to her best friend, Pearl kept safely inside. "You can keep my Pearl safe, nee, Coco?"

Only a simple nod was all the reassurence Sara needed. The Orange mermaid's eyes began to sting, and she looked up towards the surface through a crack in the wreckage. "Sayonara... Coco..."

little did they know the Orange and the Yellow Mermaid Princesses would not be seeing each other for 7 more years, when...

o0o0o0o (LINE BREAK) o0o0o0o

9:45 AM, Pearl Piari

Sara opened her eyes, forcing her self away from her daydream. The memories of seven years ago were no longer important to her. After all, now she hat Tarou-chan, marriage was just over the horizon, and after that...

Would she ever get to see Coco again? The Yellow mermaid had sent a message to her soon after her arival on land, telling her that if the Promised Day ever came, to come get her Pearl. As much as Sara denied it, her role as a Mermaid Princess would haunt her to death, for as long as she remained alive, a new mermaid princess could never be born.

Well, at least not physically... recently, ever since the sea had been getting stormier, the skys grayer and the waters a darker shade of blue, she had been experiencing when she went to sleep. She saw a young girl with cropped Orange hair, Orange tail, and the shell necklace of the Indian Ocean. The young girl would never introduce herself, and only appeared to give Sara warning of the Promised Day, saying that time was running out.

In the latest visit, she had told Sara to retrieve her pearl, much to her dismay. Sara had no intentions of returning to the ocean until it absolutly needed her, and when that time came, Coco would be by her side to give her the Orange Pearl.

...Right?

The Indian mermaid's eyebrowns furrowed as she gazed out into the sea, lost in the constant back-and-forth movment of the waves. A hypnotic dance that never seemed to end; not that she minded. It left her pleanty of room to think about what was going on in her life, and space to wonder what was happening out in the ocean.

She placed a hand on the window, leaning slightly foward for a better view of the sea, watching the sun rise over the horizon. She had been called to Pearl Piari with the word that there was important news to discuss, and from the sound of Hippo's voice, it wasn't good. The sound of footsteps racing down the hall caught her attention, and seconds later, Nikora and Hippo had arrived.

The two mermaids and a Hippocampi sat down in the lobby, and Nikora poured Sara a cup of tea, which she thanked her for, resting the plate and cup in her lap, holding the handle of the china just in case.

"This is bad, this is bad.." Hippo fretted, a bead of sweat trailing down the penguin's forehead.

"What could possible be so bad about the Promised Day approaching?" Sara asked "The day that the seven Mermaid Princesses gather and summon Aqua Regina-sama?"

"Yes, I know that the Promised Day is drawing near, but however.." Nikora looked at the floor, her eyes filled with worry and suddenly it looked as if 10 years had been added to her features "the recent activity in the sea may prevent the gathering from occuring. If the Mermaid Princesses don't gather when needed, then Darkness will certainly decend upon the world in one way or another."

"What could possibly prevent the mermaid princesses from gathering?" Sara inquired, "Once we find Lucia-"

Sara was cut short from finishing her sentence by Nikora "That's exactly the problem. Not only Lucia, but Noel has gone missing now, too."

Sara lifted the tea cup, slowly lifting it from the porcelin plate and towards her pink lips, but paused before she could sip "Do you think it could be Gaito?"

Hippo shuffled in his seat, looking down, a soft and nervous "mhhh.." escaping his throat.

Nikora closed her eyes, a frowd tugging at the corners of her lips "Yes, Gaito has captured Noel.." Sara brought the tea cup to her lips, just tipping it to let the warm liquid drain down her throat, when "Lucia's pearl has darkened. Taki says she was the one that captured Noel, alongside Gaito."

The sound of shattered china and a splash of liquid on tile pierced the dead silence of the room. Sara's eyes widened, pupils no larger that atoms, the gash on her leg from a stray peice of broken porcelin hitting her calf went ignored, the mere thought of pain blotted out by the numbness enveloping her mind with this realization.

"Damn it.." the first words to escape the Indian mermaid's lips "Damn it!" louder, her voice now holding anger, frusteration, and pitty. What could drive a Mermaid Princess so low as to buddy up with the Prince of the Panthalassa, the Dark Prince destined by Taki to take over the seven seas? Not only that, but shortly after her arrival on shore, Nikora had informed her that only herslef, Hippo, Taki, and now Sara knew that Lucia would be the next Aqua Regina.

"Sara.." Nikora grabbed Sara's fisted hand, holding it between Nikora's soft hands for comfort, "Sara, please calm down. We still don't know if she's doing it willingly or not.. there may be a way to get her to join our side?"

"Get who to join our side?" A teenager said, walking into the room, one hand running through his chocolate brown hair, the other rubbing the early morning grogginess from his red-brown eyes.

o0o0o0o (LINE BREAK) o0o0o0o

3:10 PM, South Pacific Ocean

Sara's orange eyes scanned every inch of the ocean that could be seen, searching desperately for any signs of the Golden Palace of the South Atlantic Kingdom. According to the Hippocampi's pearl radar, Coco's pearl was close by, as was her own pearl. 'Coco...' Sara thought, swimming faster 'I'm coming, Coco!'

o0o0o0o (LINE BREAK) o0o0o0o

2:30 PM, Pearl Piari

Papers lay scattered around the Lobby of Pearl Piari, various Notes and details scribbled hastily on any surface pen could reach. Sara's mind raced furiously, trying to piece together a four-dimensional puzzle, but even as the pieces came together, the question still remained;

Why?

meanwhile, hovering over their shoulder, watching from the Kitchen as he sipped a cup of coffee, sat Nanami Kaito. He had lived at Pearl Piari ever since that fateful day 7 years ago, when he washed ashore near the hotel, an intricate cross glowing on his forehead. Nikora and Taki had took him in, raising him, and when he told her about his mermaid, they told him everything, That they themselves were mermaids, that the mermaid he described was probably the Princess Lucia, and that the cross on his forehead indicated that he had Panthalassa blood. He knew exactly what he was, and that he would never get to lead a normal lifestyle.

Oh well, at least he couldn't drown.

He, too, attempted piecing together the pieces of the puzzle. If the mermaid that had saved him 7 years ago was Lucia, then he refused to believe that she was evil, that she would help the bad guy. He couldn't help like thing that he was forgetting something, though. That he knew the answer, yet it was being kept away from him by himself.

Around noon, Sara released a sign, and stood up from her work. "Alright, mina, listen up. We need to find the other mermaid princesses before Gaito gets to them, or else! Team 1 will be Kaito and Nikora. You two need to go to the North Pacific and inform them of the situation. While you're there, Hippo and I will go to the South Pacific and retrieve Coco and my pearl. We'll head out tomorrow-" Sara stopped mid sentence when a bright orange light emitted from her necklace, even with out it's pearl.

Orange eyebrows furrowed "No, not tomorrow. We're leaving fight now."

o0o0o0o LINE BREAK o0o0o0o

6:07 AM, Panthalassa Castle

Gaito's blood red eyes fluttered open, glancing around the dark room carefully. He moved rubbed the morning sleepiness from his eyes, and when he moved to get up, his actions were halted by a soft moan and a slim figure.

Carefully, Gaito moved out from under the tainted princess, letting her take his place on the couch. Wrinkles lined her otherwise smooth white dress from a night of celebration. He smiled as he gazed at the soft features of her slumbering face, and longed to return to their activities last night as he played with a tuff her her newly inky hair.

With a soft sigh so as not to disturb her he walked towards the doorway, grabbing the candelabra and not lighting it until he was far from his room. Even though it was morning, the sunrise's rays could not reach the this far down into the ocean's depths. Each step he took with grace and poise, light on his feet as if ready to strike at anything that dared to attack him, even though he knew anything in this Palace would be foolish to try.

His stroll led him to the Grand Hall. He hung the Cadelabra on the wall, and with a snap of his fingers, a light on each of the six pillars* lit. The soft glow reflected off the smooth glass cylinder in the center of each column, illumiating the clear liquid that seemed to flow in all but one.

Gaito walked over to this singular pillar at the far back right of the call, one of the closer columns to the enterance. In this column, the contents was not clear, nor was the container empty. Instead, the cylinder contained a liquid that glowed a pale green, an eerie sight in the dim hall. Floating among the liquid was the Princess of the Arctic, and if he squinted, Gaito could see her Indigo pearl sitting atop a silver tiara at the end of the hall. Her dark blue hair bobbed up and down ever so gently, the soft features of her face highlighted by the dim ray's of the early morning sun that stretched even this deep into the ocean. His cold eyes never left her pale figure as he moved around to the back of the tank. His hands reached for an invisible control panel on the back of the cylinder, his fingers racing over unseen keys. When he pulled away and walked to the front of the tank, he pressed a final button on the center front and the eerie glowing liquid drained from the tank. Slowly, Noel began to fall to the floor of the tank alongside the liquid, and when it had drained half way, she woke with a start, gasping for water.

Once the liquid had completely drained, she converted to her human form for the first time (so that she could breath), but as it was her first time, she had no garments to transform into. She collapsed to the floor, holding an arm over her generous breasts and another over her entrance (don't worry, no lemon. Remember episode 1? Lucia was naked then, too), her face flushed in embarrassment. She locked eyes on Gaito, squinting, judging, hating. Her voice was shaky as she spoke "Let me go." it only came out half demanding, the other half pleading, causing her voice to crack, "what do you want with me?"

The black prince smirked "What do I want? I'm only aiding the quest."

"Then who's leading, if not you, Prince of Darkness?"

Gaito payed no words as a response, instead moving back around the tank to the panel. Noel didn't turn to follow him, not daring to give him the pleasure. She heard the click of buttons, and the entrance to the tank opened. Water rushed in, and she turned to her mermaid form, and took the exit, darting through the gap.

She didn't make it far, however. She swam over a part of the floor far colder than the rest, and the chill began to seep up her tail faster than she could respond. Soon, her tail was covered in a thick sheet of ice, her upper body covered in a thin but quickly growing layer. Only her head was unfrozen, her hair covering her figure. She could have sworn she heard a soft feminine giggle from behind a pillar, but it soon vanished, replaced by the low laugh of Gaito that sounded both menacing and victorious.

The prince walked up to her, summoning a rose from no where and pinned it in her hair affectionately. He wrapped his arms around her, and the ice that once covered her body began to melt. However, the ice had still chilled her to the bone, and she could only collapse into his strong arms.

His voice sent chills down her numb spine, warm breath returning heat to her ear "Most of my servants are gone. I don't need them anymore, as I have someone else to play with. With my power that I had endowed into them now returned, I have found I have some.. new abilities. Let's try them out, shall we?"

He pulled away, wrapping and arm around her waist to keep her close, and another cupped her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. The blood red not turned into an electric purple. Noel's eyes widened, before returning to their state of pupil-less, hazy indigo. A quick glance to the end of the hall would have shown you that the Indigo pearl was now covered in black, streakes like lightning weaving across it.

An expression of genuin curiosity crossed the Dark Prince's face. "It seems to capture their soul and return it to their pearl," it wasn't his voice that spoke, but that of a tainted princess.

"Oi, Lucia. I thought you were asleep," he said as he picked up the soulless, limp form of the Indigo princess, carrying her from the center of the hall back to the tank near the enterance, "so you saw that?"

"I saw everything," Lucia crossed her hands over her chest, closing her eyes and face turning downward, lip pouting, "Gaito, you pervert," she half teased, half scolded.

The Panthalassa placed Noel back in the enterance, returning to the back to type into the panel. Soon, the enterance closed, and the glowing mint green liquid returned to the tank, Noel floating back to her original position alongside the water.

Gaito pulled Lucia close to him, embracing her, striving for her warmth. She returned the gesture, and kissed his neck softly, before pulling away, looking up toward the hole in the celing, squiting in disgust at the warmth of the light. "Gaito, I think it's time. Are the 3 mermen ready?"

Gaito nodded, and with a snap of his fingers, three yellow mermen swam into the room, dressed in their guard uniforms. They kept their distance from Lucia and Gaito, and stood still as statues. Their eyes were not the golds and yellows they used to be, but were now black like coal.

"perfect," Lucia muttered, and turned to the yellow guards. "So, here's what you need to do."

o0o0o0o LINE BREAK o0o0o0o

12:47 PM South Pacific Ocean

Coco gazed warily out her window, looking up at the lapping waves of the ocean surface, and out towards the North. Her three best guards had been gone for over a week now, with no signs of return nor the Princess Lucia. Not only had they disappeared off the face of the ocean, Messengers from the North Atlantic warned of the collapse of the Arctic Palace, with no sign of Noel or her pearl.

Indeed, it was a long week for Princess Coco.

One of Coco's maids chose that moment to burst into her room. "Coco-sama!" she cried "The guards have returned!" the maiden had no time to watch her princess leave, as not a second later, Coco was in the main hall.

"Leo! Hari! Blaine!" she cried, and threw her arms around Leo, a guard with curly golden hair and a nice set of abbs. Hari had a light blonde beiber-bowl, and Blaine's long yellow hair was tied in a low pony tail.

Leo was the leader of the Guards, and Coco's long time friend. When they were young, he had sworn that he would be the one to marry the Princess. When Coco had heard he had dissappeared, she was devastated, yet refused to give up hope, and he had indeed returned to her.

The Golden Guard placed a cheek on the Yellow Princess' cheek, taking her hand in his, and leading her away from the hall, to the Amber Gardens, where he was sure they would be alone, and Coco dismissed the maids and fellow guards to ensure their privacy.

The Amber Gardens was a giant maze, the walls made out of gold-leafed coral that entwined to form thick walls and an overhead roof so that no one could cheat and swim up to look around. Leo knew the path of the maze by heart, and the couple soon found them self in the center of the maze, where the roof disappeared and left open sea. Coco closed her eyes, face turning upwards to let the sun shine on her features. Leo's arms wrapped around her, adding warmth, and she leaned in, welcoming the embrace. "It's been so long, Leo. Where were you? Any signs of Lucia?"

Coco turned around in Leo's embrace, her face burrowing into his toned chest, hands wrapped around his waist. Leo's deep voice sent chills down her spine (as usual) "Dearest Princess, my eyes will tell you everything,"

Coco waited not one second, her golden eyes looking upward, only to not meet the amber she was used to, but a lifeless black. A gasp escaped her lips, and she backed away, but Leo's strong fist wrapped around her pendant, and he attempted to snap it off his neck, but the pearls were stronger, and he instead pulled Coco forward.

The Yellow Princess attempted to call for the remaining guards, but Leo's lips blocked any noise, crashing violently against hers, his hands locking onto her sides, tracing her figure. She moaned in pleasure as his hands fondled what lied behind her shells. The pleasure ceased when two sets of hands grabbed each of her arms, and Leo wrapped an arms around her waist and the other ran a hand through her long blonde hair. She realized the other guards were under the same spell as Leo, and that it would be no use to call for guards, as they were the ones currently holding her down.

She looked heavenward to avoid staring into the lifeless pits that had invaded her lover's eyes, only to find several dark figures floating downwards.

They were difficult to make out at first, yet when they came closer, she recognized at least one of them, and the Yellow Princess was not in the least bit pleased with what she found. Descending from the surface was the Dark Prince Gaito, heir to the Panthalassa throne, a girl in a red victorian dress with lime green hair who was sitting on a piano, and from just behind the piano, she caught a glimpse of a white dress and two dark pigtails.

With a mere nod from Gaito, Leo left Coco's side, and Hari and Blaine (each was holding an arm) grabbed her arms tighter. Gaito approached the helpless princess with caution, unsure of what she was capable. He knew that she was one of the older princesses, a few year younger than Sara of the Indian Ocean, who had disappeared several years ago. His pale hand cupped her chin, carresing in slghtly before slowly stroaking down her collarbone, her neck, before clasping her yellow pendant. "No!" Coco cried, and began to strugle to break free of Hari and Blaine's grip, her pendant begining to glow with bright Yellow light.

The light blinded her captors and the Panthalassa Prince, who all covered their eyes. Coco would not let this oppertunity pass, and shouted "Yellow Pearl Voice!" seconds later, the princess was transformed into her idol form, a microphone pressed against her lips as the words flowed naturally from her mouth like second nature. "Nanairo no, kaze ni fukare te. Tooi, hikari to mezashiteta," (and you know the rest)

Once the son had finished, the three Golden Guards had collapsed to the floor, unconcious, but purified of Gaito's spell. "How about an encore?" Coco taunted, but eyes widened when she saw that her song had no effect on either the Prince nor his green-haired servant. A quick glance from Gaito caused the Victorian girl to rush to the piano, her harsh melody quickly invading Coco's ears, and she sank to her knees, withering in agony.

The only release from the dreadful song was the sound of her name "Coco! Hang in there Coco!"

The Yellow Princess looked up in genuin suprise at the sound of her best friend's voice, for if Sara was here, than that would mean that the Promised Day was near, and then...

A cry emerged from Sara and Hippo as they were thrown back by an invisible force, a dark, hazy barrier forming around Gaito, Coco, and Yuuri, his servant. Hippo chose that moment to bring out the key rod, and as it extended, he changed into his human form. Yuuri was distracted by the sudden apearance of a boy her age, and blushed while stopping playing to gaze at Hippo as he banged against the barrier, which began to weaked with the absence of Yuuri's song.

Yuuri snapped back to reality when Coco began to sing once more, another verse of horrid music blasting through her blue microphone. The first time had been bearable, but now it was just horrid! Yuuri covered her ears and screamed in agony, before disappearing with her piano, returning back to the castle.

Gaito fixed the barrier, blocking out enterance for Sara and Hippo, but removing the purple haze so they could witness first hand what exactly they were up against.

With the disappearance of Yuuri and her piano, that reviled a dark haired woman in a white dress with a black sash around her waist, her black hair tied up in to pigtails. Her arms were folded around her stomach, and her eyes were closed, for why should she waste her vision on such pathetic sights? For the sheer curiosity forced open her eyelids, and the sight she saw was rather pathetic.

"How about an encore?" the words rang for a second time through the maze's center. Lucia scoffed at the words, and strutted forward, past Gaito, and slapped the words and the smile off Coco's face with newfound strength.

The surprise of the smack sent Coco crashing to her knees, eyes widened. The faint sound of Sara pounding on the barrier could be heard, alongside the words "Stop it!" and a fait whisper from a hippocampi of "Lucia.. sama?"

Lucia kneeled down next to Coco, and cupped the yellow princess' chin in her hand, forcing Coco to look up into Lucia's eyes, which remained the same crystal blue as when they had first met.

Coco's breathed caught in her throat, her faint words barely escaping her lips before being interrupted "No, don't tell me that you really are!~"

"Estia kasa misti vidi ato"

"COCO!"

END CHAPTER

HOLY CRAP IT'S 2:22 IN THE MORNING MAKE A FREAKING WISH XD Yeah over about a 2 week period it took me probably a total of... 7 hours to write and edit this chapter? 7 hours minimum.

So, 10 reviews is a lot, but i would really like more, because I KNOW IF YOU'RE READING MY STORY, SO REVIEW YOU LAZY BUM.

**so, just incase you're getting confuse,

the Grand Hall looks like this;

shattered pillar

pearl tiara

yellowpillar

pillarpillar

pillarNoel

enterance

i'll post an update of how the Grand Hall looks at the end of every chapter

Until next time, chiassu!


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